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SITSINSTANDS
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Posted: Tuesday Feb 12th, 2008 05:27 PM |
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Meant to post this yesterday. Nice to see Mikey doing much better with his Toyota this season.
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/02/10/jjohnson.mwaltrip.d500.front.row/index.html
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In Sunday's pole qualifying for the 50th Daytona 500, Jimmie Johnson affirmed the dominance of Hendrick Motorsports -- as if it needed affirmation -- by capturing the pole for the Feb. 17 Sprint Cup season opener.
Michael Waltrip backed up the improvement Toyota has shown during preseason testing by grabbing the other front-row starting spot. In the unique qualifying format for the Daytona 500, only Johnson and Waltrip know where they'll start next Sunday.
Johnson was the only driver to top 187 mph, as he powered his No. 48 Chevrolet around 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway in 48.109 seconds (187.075 mph). Waltrip, the 48th of 53 drivers to attempt qualifying, ran more than a half-second faster than Johnson on his first of two laps but couldn't squeeze enough speed out of the second lap to knock the defending Cup champion off the pole.
50th Daytona 500
Waltrip covered the distance in 48.197 seconds (186.734 mph) in his No. 55 Toyota. Sunday also brought good news for Joe Nemechek and David Reutimann, who qualified third and fourth at 186.498 mph and 186.463 mph, respectively. Both drivers were outside the top 35 in owner points and consequently weren't guaranteed starting positions for the 500.
With their efforts on Sunday, Nemechek and Reutimann locked themselves into the field, though they won't know their starting positions until the Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races sort out the order on Thursday.
Dave Blaney was fifth-fastest in his No. 22 Toyota.
Johnson hadn't won a Daytona 500 pole since his rookie season in 2002. Though he finished second in Saturday's Budweiser Shootout car -- a backup car built for a short track -- Johnson withheld judgment on how his pole-winning car will behave in the qualifying races and the 500.
"We'll find out in the draft," said Johnson, who claimed the 14th pole of his career. "We haven't really had a chance to draft with this car -- we only took single-car runs in practice [Saturday].
"But my guess is that this Lowe's Impala is going to be awesome."
Waltrip, who last year was penalized for an illegal fuel system additive on pole day, was elated by the performance of his Camry.
"I wanted to be the fastest of the cars with a star beside them," Waltrip said, noting the designation of cars not locked into the field on owner points. "Jimmie Johnson knew he was in the race when he woke up today, and I didn't.
"I've got to think that I'm the happiest guy at Daytona today."
Note: The Daytona 500 field is composed of the top 35 in owner points from last year, plus the two highest finishing cars from each of the Duel 150s not already in the race. In addition, four cars not otherwise qualified after the Duels are added to the field based on qualifying speed from Sunday, unless a past champion not otherwise qualified claims the 43rd starting position.
Waltrip, Nemechek and Reutimann ran the three fastest laps of those in the go-or-go-home group to lock themselves into the field. Three past champions outside the top 35 (Kurt Busch, Dale Jarrett and Bill Elliott) must race their way into the 500 on Thursday.
Only one past champion's provisional is available and it goes to the most recent champion not otherwise qualified. Busch won the title in 2004, Jarrett in 1999 and Elliott in 1988.
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Alaskan
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Posted: Wednesday Feb 13th, 2008 05:29 AM |
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ya.....at least this year he didn't have to attempt to cheat his way in right ???
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MandGRacing96
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Posted: Wednesday Feb 13th, 2008 02:54 PM |
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| Didnt have to cheat his way in? Which one do you refer to? hahahaha
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SITSINSTANDS
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Posted: Wednesday Feb 13th, 2008 04:57 PM |
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Alaskan wrote: ya.....at least this year he didn't have to attempt to cheat his way in right ???
They all cheat. It is just a matter of are you good enough not to get caught. Last year Johnson and Waltrip's teams were not. I do not like cheating or cheaters, but pushing the envelope is what creates faster cars, new design elements and I am all for that.Last edited on Wednesday Feb 13th, 2008 04:58 PM by SITSINSTANDS
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Alaskan
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Posted: Wednesday Feb 13th, 2008 06:01 PM |
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SITSINSTANDS wrote: Alaskan wrote: ya.....at least this year he didn't have to attempt to cheat his way in right ???
They all cheat. It is just a matter of are you good enough not to get caught. Last year Johnson and Waltrip's teams were not. I do not like cheating or cheaters, but pushing the envelope is what creates faster cars, new design elements and I am all for that.
so....you didn't mind that Michael Waltrip's fuel was illegal ???
seems I remember Nascar had a bit of a problem with that and gave him the boot and a $100k fine
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MandGRacing96
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Posted: Wednesday Feb 13th, 2008 06:39 PM |
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| Like JJs infraction was any worse/better? His CC has been caught cheating more than any CC in the garage. But they have been fast the last few years, so I guess that makes it ok. I hate cheating. I think anyone who gets caught should have to sit out the weekend. Then you would see the "pushing the envelope" slow down alot as the sponsors would not be happy. I know it will never happen just my wish. haha
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Alaskan
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Posted: Wednesday Feb 13th, 2008 06:47 PM |
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Care to point out where I had made a comparision ??
At least Chad isn't so stupid as to play with the fuel as MWR did....thats the first thing Nascar checks
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MandGRacing96
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Posted: Wednesday Feb 13th, 2008 09:48 PM |
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| Didnt mean to infer that is what you were sayin...I was just venting.
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racefanracefan
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Posted: Thursday Feb 14th, 2008 12:47 AM |
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| Saw on Speed that T Stewart lost his third engine today for speedweek and everybody in the hendricks gang all lost engines today and Clint Bower also lost an engine. I like that new Ro7 chevy engine, take off the chevy badge on the valve cover and you would think its a Ford (a Better idea). Last edited on Thursday Feb 14th, 2008 12:49 AM by racefanracefan
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SITSINSTANDS
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Posted: Thursday Feb 14th, 2008 07:03 PM |
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Alaskan wrote: SITSINSTANDS wrote: Alaskan wrote: ya.....at least this year he didn't have to attempt to cheat his way in right ???
They all cheat. It is just a matter of are you good enough not to get caught. Last year Johnson and Waltrip's teams were not. I do not like cheating or cheaters, but pushing the envelope is what creates faster cars, new design elements and I am all for that.
so....you didn't mind that Michael Waltrip's fuel was illegal ???
seems I remember Nascar had a bit of a problem with that and gave him the boot and a $100k fine
I did not say that. As a matter of fact I do not like that he, or anyone else, tried to cheat, but most of them do. It just seems to be part of the sport. Heck, how many local tracks do you know of that everyone is running legal? Cheating is just part of all motor sports like it or not. All of the top teams and many of the secondary teams in NASCAR have have been caught cheating over the past few years.
In all honesty I would love to see NASCAR make the fines higher and the amount of race suspensions to increase. If they make the fines and suspensions so high that they could not possibly win the championship it would stop a lot of it.
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